subsystem
noun
sub·sys·tem
ˈsəb-ˌsi-stəm 
variants
or less commonly sub-system
plural subsystems also sub-systems
: a system that is part of a larger system
These subsystems of the climate system include the atmosphere, the oceans (both upper and deep oceans), the sea ice, the ice sheets, the land surface, and the biota.—
Stephen H. Schneider
Stephen H. SchneiderVoyager 2 was the troublesome twin. Even before launch, failures in its onboard computer subsystems had to be rectified. The problems continued after liftoff as the attitude-control subsystem behaved in an unexpected fashion.—William I. McLaughlin
William I. McLaughlinExamples of subsystem in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Del Toro is right to push Congress to buy more ships and their subsystems from faster-moving foreign manufacturers.
—Editorial Board, Washington Post, 24 June 2024
Voyager 1’s plasma-wave subsystem and magnetometer bounced back immediately.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 14 June 2024
Once on board, Wilmore and Williams will stay at the ISS for about a week to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems.
—Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 5 June 2024
But incremental gains were made, and after five months of steady trial and error, the team found that Voyager 1’s problem lay in its flight data subsystem (FDS), which packages earthbound data.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for subsystem 
Editorial Board, Washington Post, 24 June 2024
Voyager 1’s plasma-wave subsystem and magnetometer bounced back immediately.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 14 June 2024
Once on board, Wilmore and Williams will stay at the ISS for about a week to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems.
—Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 5 June 2024
But incremental gains were made, and after five months of steady trial and error, the team found that Voyager 1’s problem lay in its flight data subsystem (FDS), which packages earthbound data.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for subsystem
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'subsystem.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Subsystem.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subsystem. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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